Clinicians’ perspectives on using ultrasound visual biofeedback for research and practice with people with cleft palate ± cleft lip

Objective: Ultrasound visual biofeedback has the potential to be a useful tool in Cleft Palate ± Lip care but there is little research on its effectiveness, nor on clinicians’ views on using it in research and practice. This study reports on cleft-specialist Speech and Language Therapists’ views on the acceptability of the technique in clinical practice and on their readiness to contribute to future clinical trials of its effectiveness.
Design: A qualitative design comprising semi-structured focus groups/interviews.
Setting: Clinicians reflected on how easy it would be to use ultrasound in their regional cleft services.
Participants: Clinicians were recruited via invitation to a UK-wide list of cleft-specialist Speech and Language Therapists. Eleven participants took part over two focus groups and two interviews.
Analysis: Focus groups/interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and an inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. Once complete, a deductive analysis using the theoretical framework of acceptability was used to summarise the findings.
Results: Four themes emerged: 1. Value of ultrasound as an approach; 2. Intrinsic drawbacks of acquiring and utilising ultrasound; 3. Competence in effective performance within a clinical trial; and 4. Incentives for clinicians and patients in participation in research.
Conclusions: Participants were positive about the benefits of ultrasound for visualising the articulators and improving patient outcomes. Barriers to adoption included the cost of the equipment and the time to travel to appointments. Across clinical and research uses of ultrasound the need for high-quality training and networking within a community of practice were highlighted.